The University of North Carolina - Asheville

Alright, how I wondered to this sight very late at night sort of hints obliquely at somewhat of an academic crisis, doesn't it?

Well, my overall perception of UNCA is that the student body, or at least a noticeable part of it, is like the devil's rejects (I hate to say it, but self proclaimed "nerds"), who flaunt there nerddom and fascinations with really obscure fascinations. That certainly bothers me as I am a fierce lover of people and it's hard to find common ground with people who have isolated themselves into sub-cultures so much that you hardly speak the same language as them.

Ok, that was harsh. Not everyone's like that! Sense of humors around the place leave something to be desired. But, people are rather smart, although there's something so emberrassing about seeing people your own age wax forth about philosopher's and such when they just became of drinking age. I've always pondered lifes hidden meanings, and you will often get sophist answers: simplistic comments wrapped in decent delivery.

Ok, that's about classroom discussions.
The Faculty are uber-nice.
The humanities program is pretty solid; you will get a real installment of all those sorry, mind numbingly dull history and arts classes from high school.

Downtown can be fun: hipsters are abound, and as someone said, the lack of racial diversity is very difficult to get over for someone who spent there whole life interacting with other races (i.e. it's ok to do a black guy impression, they would laugh!) And kids don't really get it. There PCness proceeds there understanding of the contemporary racial spectrum at times. Oh well.

If you went to a liberal arts high school, you'll thrive.
The Registrar's office is not fun to deal with, period. The dining hall is good from what I hear.
It's OK for the academics, but plan your grad track early as the gen ed could eat you alive...better than UNCC by a long shot. There is no suffocating Greek Life found at enormous universities.

Hippies are sweet, just lacking in the imagination department sometimes.

1st Year Female -- Class 2010

Collaboration/Competitive: B+, Faculty Accessibility: F

Someone described the campus as like a high school from the '70s and that is unfortunately true. The newer buildings are nicer but the whole central campus is sort of tacky and kitschy.

The professors are extremely helpful and accessible and are at a surprising level for such a small, public school. I'm in the French department and, although the program is very small and undeveloped, all the professors have very long office hours and are always willing to discuss things in their offices after class. All of my professors in my major have really made a personal connection with me and I feel they are genuinely interested in my future.

The one major issue I've had at UNCA is the dead discussions. It seems that even in higher level courses specifically for people in that respective major, many of the people in your class will give the air of not wanting to be there. This can be frustrating because most of the upper level courses are discussion based.

That brings me to my next point. You will not run into many huge lecture courses. Most classes are tiny and have very interesting coursework.In general, this isn't a super challenging school. You can graduate with a perfect GPA without spending Columbia or Yale level of weekly study.

1st Year Male -- Class 2013

Faculty Accessibility: A+, Campus Aesthetics: D

UNC Asheville has a fantastic academic environment, with highly accessible professors and small class sizes. There is no 'typical student' here, however. Everyone is just kind of strange. If that puts you off, stay away, otherwise come have a great experience in these beautiful mountains.

1st Year Male -- Class 2012

Education Quality: A+, Social Life: C+